Following orders from Tehran, the Palestinian Hamas used the cover of the 22-day Gaza conflict to aim rockets at the American Forward-Based X-band Transportable (FBX-T) anti-missile radar system lodged at Israel's big Nevatim air base east of the Negev capital Beersheba. Destruction of the FBX-T, which was installed last November to intercept incoming Iranian Shehab-3 ballistic missiles, would have crowned Hamas' offensive with success. Jan. 18, two days before joining Israel's unilateral ceasefire, Hamas tried to hit the American facility with a salvo of 3 Grad rockets. They missed their aim, landing on empty ground west of Beersheba, without triggering...

A Question of Torture by: Bethany Stotts, January 22, 2009 Barack Obama’s recent nominations to the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and other pressures have led some media organizations to question whether an executive order against torture may be one of the new president’s initial policies. The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) launched a campaign to pressure President Obama to issue an executive order (EO) to countermand George W. Bush’s EO 13440 by January 20th; with no EO, the coalition is now counting the days until it’s issued. And the Obama team is paying attention. As...

This will end in tears. The Obama hysteria is not merely embarrassing to witness, it is itself contributory to the scale of the disaster that is coming. What we are experiencing, in the deepening days of a global depression, is the desperate suspension of disbelief by people of intelligence - la trahison des clercs - in a pathetic effort to hypnotise themselves into the delusion that it will be all right on the night. It will not be all right. We have been here before. In the spring of 1997, to be precise, when a charismatic, young prime minister entered...

In its first hours, the Obama administration took an initial step to put its imprint on the government, ordering work halted on all federal regulations left unfinished at the end of the Bush era until they can be reviewed by the new president's team. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel dispatched a memo yesterday afternoon to federal agencies and departments, directing them to stop pending rules until the new administration has time to conduct a "legal and policy review" of each one. The directive has become a first-day tradition among presidents, dating to Ronald Reagan in 1981, helping incoming...

Reporting from Washington -- More than 1 million spectators convened on the National Mall to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office Tuesday, but it was unclear if the crowd surpassed the record thought to have been set at Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 inauguration. Though early estimates ranged as high as 2 million people, satellite images of Obama's swearing-in suggested the crowd was probably about half that, said Clark McPhail, who has been analyzing crowds on the National Mall since the 1960s.

The Senate Finance Committee will consider legislation to extend and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) on Thursday, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced Tuesday. Congressional action on the popular SCHIP measure, which passed Congress with bipartisan votes twice in 2007 but died under President Bush’s veto pen, would give the incoming Obama administration a quick victory on healthcare, one of its major priorities. Passing an SCHIP expansion also would stand as a down payment on the comprehensive health reform effort promised by President-elect Obama. Baucus said he expects the measure to be debated on the Senate floor before...

<p>Sen. Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is raising questions about a housekeeper that worked briefly for Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner without proper immigration papers, and multiple years when Mr. Geithner didn't pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for himself.</p>

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama promised visiting Mexican President Felipe Calderón during a 90-minute summit Monday that the incoming administration would take stronger action to stem the flow of assault-style weapons smuggled from Texas to drug lords in Mexico. Obama, outlining his plans for U.S.-Mexico relations in detail for the first time, vowed to find ways to collaborate more effectively with Mexico to reduce drug-related violence, including weapons bought in U.S. cities used to cut down Mexican troops and police, said his press secretary, Robert Gibbs. Obama applauded the steps taken by Calderón to improve security in Mexico, Gibbs said,...

CHICAGO (AP) - Thanks to a well-placed letter B, things are looking up for the Chicago hair salon formerly known as Ossama's. Owner Mike Elsheikh said he's already seen business improve in the two weeks since he unveiled the name change from Ossama's Hair Design to Obama's Hair Design.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." - Barack Obama, Victory Speech, November 4, 2008 Yesterday was Martin Luther King's birthday, which is America's only national holiday to honor an American citizen. The day before, which was Sunday, the incoming Obama administration staged an Inauguration Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial around the theme "We Are One," which was also the theme of...

LONDON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the stimulus package being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama and Congress could provide a "significant boost" to the sinking economy. But he warned that such a recovery won't last unless other steps are taken to stabilize the shaky financial system. Although Bernanke has previously endorsed the notion for a fresh round of government stimulus to lift the country out of a recession, it marked the first time the Fed chief has referenced the roughly $800 billion recovery plan now being worked on by Obama, who takes office next week. Obama envisions...

This article on approving troop increases in Afghanistan gives insight consistent with Bambi's career: Make a decision that leaves every possible option open. In the past, his voting "present" is matched in number only by his statements that begin with "I was the first to say" or "I've been saying for [insert feel-good number] months" followed by any topic which feeds his a fraction of his base. His history is one of avoiding action on the difficult issues while saying the words people want to hear. His voting record shows very little imagination or defiance against the party line.

(01-13) 04:00 PST Washington -- Even before Barack Obama is sworn in as president, some cracks are appearing in the alliance between the incoming administration and its Democratic allies in Congress. Top lawmakers are questioning details of the president-elect's nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus plan. And while Obama wants Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue program, House Democrats are insisting on voting on legislation this week setting restrictions on how his administration can use the money. Behind the scenes, Obama's aides and congressional leaders are coordinating their moves closely. But publicly, lawmakers are seeking...

In two days, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) will begin the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Eric Holder, former Clinton deputy attorney general who is President-elect Barack Obama’s highly controversial nominee to the office of Attorney General. Holder, best known for playing a major role in the Clinton pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, will face skeptical Republicans, including ranking Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). Specter has run into a Leahy roadblock in his attempts to get some of the background documents on the nomination. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has refused to sign off on document requests by Republicans...

Last November Barack Obama outlined his “back to the thirties” major infrastructure plan. He talked about a two year program of rebuilding “crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools building wind farms and so on. You get the picture. That sounds nice but what’s Obama really going to accomplish? This ridiculous boondoggle will cost ONE TRILLION DOLLARS! We’ve already spent half of the seven hundred billion dollars of the so-called bailout fund, and have virtually NOTHING to show for it. We don’t even know where the money has gone! What could possibly make Obama think plunging America deeper into debt by...

Radical Islamic Networks in America By Jamie GlazovFrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Ryan Mauro, the founder of WorldThreats.com. He is currently a national security researcher for the Christian Action Network and a researcher for the Reform Party of Syria. A frequent guest on radio and TV programs, he is the author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq. He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com. FP: Ryan Mauro, welcome to Frontpage Interview.Mauro: Thank you.FP: I’d like to talk to you today about radical Islamic networks that exist in the U.S. Tell us...

US President-elect Barack Obama met privately Monday with Mexico President Felipe Calderon to discuss energy policy, global climate change and a host of other issues. Speaking to reporters after the closed-door meeting at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, Obama praised Calderon for the "leadership" he has shown on energy issues. He did not elaborate. Obama also sounded a somewhat dire warning about the need to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions, saying, "I believe that the future of the economy is going to rest on how we're able to adapt to a potential crisis with climate change." He has called...

My city, Washington, D.C., is going bonkers for Obama. So is yours no doubt. Shopping for party favors, I came across -- in addition to key chains and light-up necklaces -- T-shirts and coffee mugs emblazoned with the Anointed One's photograph. Jan. 12's Washington Post carries a story about Obama attorney Greg Craig. He took the job imagining he'd be confronting knotty separation of powers issues. And he may. But for now, he's "charged with stopping the commercial exploitation of his client's image -- the Obama can openers, Obama chocolate chip cookies, Obama chocolate bars and the like now on...